Newspaper Article – Thousands of peach trees to go

Thousands of peach trees to go

Thousands of good Golden Queen peach trees will be ripped from Hawke‘s Bay orchards following next month’s harvest.

Their removal is part of a plan by J. Wattie Canneries Ltd and Golden Queen growers to overcome a glut of peaches.

Each tree removed will earn growers a $6 subsidy from the cannery except on trees more than 20 years old.

The president of the Hawke’s Bay Fruitgrowers‘ Association, Mr Keith Spackman, himself a Golden Queen peach grower said about 200 growers at a special meeting at Watties in Hastings last night accepted that there had to be cutbacks.

The method decided by the cannery was thought of as “sincere”.

The glut arose from intensive plantings during the latter part of last decade and early this decade.

The managing director of the cannery Mr Ray Wattie said the plantings were a natural response by growers during a time of shortage.

He said the likely intake of peaches was expected to increase from 9750 tonnes this season to 10,825 tonnes in 1986.

“Based on these figures, and the equivalent sales of 8000 tonnes per annum (to the New Zealand market) by the end of I986, we would have the equivalent of two years’ sales in stock,” he said.

Instead, Watties intend to have stocks at a normal level by 1986 – meaning a 35 per cent reduction in the amount of fruit processed.

The reduction will be achieved following next month‘s harvest which will not be reduced – by not packing any second-grade fruit and by using a tree-pull scheme.

The scheme was agreed to by the Hawke’s Bay Fruitgrowers‘ Association as the most appropriate as it had an immediate result, was a one-off exercise and was voluntary.

Watties themselves have given a lead to growers by pulling out 5000 producing trees in Hastings and Gisborne.

Mr Wattie said the industry would be re-established as a strong viable concern following completion of the reduction.

A worldwide glut has occurred with peaches following European Common Market support policies for their processing countries of Italy and Greece.

This has resulted in the world’s major peach processing countries of the United States, South Africa and Australia being virtually unable to export in Europe.

Mr Wattie said these countries were now reducing their production by a combination of tree removals, quotas on fruit intake, the likelihood of delayed and depressed payments and the closure of canneries.

“In these countries considerable State financial assistance is given,” he said

An example of what was happening was shown in last week‘s announcement by two Australian canners of 1982 peach prices to growers.

The 1982 price would reduce the 1981 price by 20 percent and growers would face a 50 percent quota on quantity.

“The close economic relations arrangement with Australia will provide increasing quantities of imports of canned fruit from Australia while not crowding any real opportunities for export of canned fruit to that country from New Zealand,” Mr Wattie said.

“It is fair to say that CER provides for a gradual increase in imports. Extra imports at the rate of $200,000 every six months are occurring under the government’s import licensing tendering scheme.

“But based on present figures this will mean $3-million per annum of canned fruit import licences by 1989.

“Add to this present canned pineapple imports of $5.5-million and you can understand why our domestic market will at best be static (at 8000 tonnes field weight of peaches) Mr Wattie said.